Sasha seemed to have realized something. She slowly lowered her salute, split the potato in her hand in half, and, albeit reluctantly, held out the smaller piece to the instructor.
"Here… have half," she muttered, visibly torn—clearly not by fear, but by her attachment to the potato.
Instructor Keith Shadis took the piece, staring at it like it was some cursed relic. "H-Half…" he echoed, stunned to his core.
I… couldn't bear to look anymore.
――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
The initiation ceremony had ended, and we were given some free time. And as for the "potato girl" Sasha Blouse—who I now genuinely could not bring myself to look at—she was still running laps outside. Probably had been running the entire afternoon.
I stepped out from the dorm, finally freed from the stiffness of the military uniform. In casual clothes, I felt lighter. As I looked out into the golden evening light, I saw Eren, Armin, Marco, Connie, and a girl named Mina gathered near the edge of the yard.
"Hey… she's still running."
We were all in our training fatigues now, leaning on the railing and watching Sasha's lonely sprint.
"Incredible. It's been five hours," Connie said, shading his eyes.
"Yeah, but I think the real heartbreak hit her when she found out she wouldn't get dinner tonight," Marco added.
"Dauper Village… isn't that one of those small hunting settlements in the mountains?" Connie mused aloud.
I slowly descended the stairs, stretching under the warmth of the setting sun.
"Hm? What's that?" Eren asked, looking toward a wagon leaving the cadet headquarters.
"Those are the ones who didn't make it," Mina answered quietly. "They're being sent to the frontier."
"Already? But it's only the first day…" Armin said, shocked.
"There's no helping it. If you're not strong enough, you're out," Eren replied flatly, drawing everyone's attention.
I kept stretching, focused more on the sunlit breeze than their conversation.
"Imagine settling for picking rocks and pulling weeds…"
"Come to think of it, no one asked where you were from," Marco said, turning toward Eren with curiosity.
With a small smile, Eren clapped Armin on the shoulder and pointed in my direction. "Me, Armin, and Sandra—we're all from Shiganshina."
Hearing my name, I turned around. My expression didn't betray anything, but I met Eren's smile with a silent look.
Marco, Connie, and Mina were visibly surprised, seemingly piecing something together.
"That means… you were there that day, weren't you?" Connie asked, referring to the fall of Shiganshina, his voice tinged with awe and horror.
"Did you see it? The Colossal Titan?" he asked, eager and wide-eyed.
"Y-Yeah…" Eren replied, the memory clearly weighing on him.
I stopped stretching and turned to walk toward the back of the dorm.
"Sandra! It's almost dinner time!" Armin called after me.
But I didn't look back. There wasn't anything I needed to say.
Sliding a hand into my pocket, I felt nothing. I had already thrown out the now-empty medicine bottle. Fortunately, the illness Grisha warned about never showed up. Maybe… I really was cured.
I looked up at the trees swaying in the wind. The breeze was soft and gentle.
Taking a deep breath, I lowered myself to the ground and began training again—push-ups, sit-ups, whatever I could. I needed to sharpen myself like a blade meant to slice down Titans.
"One… two… three…" I counted quietly with each push, sweat starting to drip from my forehead.
――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
Later, after washing off and changing clothes, I waited for my hair to dry before heading out for dinner.
"Sandra."
It was Mikasa's voice. She walked up beside me, clearly having waited outside the dorm for a while.
I opened the door and hung my towel over the drying rack. Our dorm could probably fit ten cadets, though it felt cramped.
"Let's go," Mikasa said again. I didn't keep her waiting long.
We walked toward the mess hall together.
"Where were you earlier?" Mikasa asked. She had tried to find me during free time, but I had disappeared.
"I was training behind the dorms," I answered casually. "Don't worry so much, Mikasa. See? I survived the first day."
I smiled, brushing back my bangs with a clip. My hair had grown to about shoulder length—close to Mikasa's.
"Mm…" she murmured, her eyes dimming for a moment as if deep in thought.
Soon we reached the dining hall, got our rations, and found a place to sit.
The warm potato stew reminded me of something Carla once made—but the taste was completely different.
Across the hall, Eren had become the center of attention, especially among those from Wall Rose. They surrounded him with eager questions—about that day.
"Mikasa… I don't think I can finish my bread. Can you take it?" I nudged the roll toward her.
"Sandra, no. Tomorrow's training will take a lot of energy," Mikasa said firmly, placing the bread back on my plate.
I sighed softly and took the bread again, dipping it in the sweet soup to make it easier to swallow.
The other cadets around Eren were still asking about the Colossal Titan, the Armored Titan, and all the other horrors that had appeared that day.
"…Maybe stop asking already," Marco suggested, noticing how Eren looked like he was about to throw up. "He probably doesn't want to remember all that."
"Sorry…" Connie said first.
"It's fine. Titans aren't anything special," Eren muttered, biting into his bread. Those of us who knew him well could see it—he was forcing himself to sound strong.
"If we can master the ODM gear, they're nothing. I'm just… really glad we finally get to start proper training."
I sipped my stew quietly. I didn't interrupt. Eren's conviction—it echoed something in me. The same desire. The same purpose. I just wasn't the type to announce mine out loud.
"…I'm joining the Scout Regiment. I'll drive the Titans out of this world. I'll kill every last one."
Eren's words were raw, sincere. But to some, they might've sounded like bravado.
"Whoa, whoa—are you okay in the head?" a voice interrupted.
It was Jean Kirschtein, the same guy who said during the initiation that he wanted to join the Military Police and live a cushy life in the Interior.
"You seriously just said you want to join the Scouts?"
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